Author: Jack Mulligan

Public backlash reveals rising pressure in China’s AI race Huawei’s usually silent AI research arm, Noah’s Ark Lab, broke protocol over the weekend to reject allegations of code plagiarism linked to its new AI model, Pangu Pro MoE. The model, designed to run on Huawei’s proprietary Ascend chips, came under scrutiny after a GitHub group named HonestAGI claimed it contained uncredited code fragments. Though the original post was deleted, a follow-up titled Pangu’s Sorrow accused Huawei’s team of lagging behind domestic competitors and facing internal pressure to deliver results. In a rare public response, Huawei strongly denied any wrongdoing, asserting…

China’s overcapacity and BYD dominance put smaller rivals at risk Thailand’s electric vehicle (EV) market is witnessing the fallout of China’s hyper-competitive EV sector as smaller players like Neta struggle to survive. Once a promising entrant, Neta is now facing dealer lawsuits, unpaid government incentives, and plummeting market share, threatening its local production ambitions. Introduced to Thailand in 2022, Neta benefited from a government incentive program that waived import duties in exchange for a commitment to match imports with domestic production by 2024. However, citing slowing demand and tight credit conditions, Neta has failed to meet production targets. Thai authorities…

Traders brace for possible August output hike by OPEC+ Oil prices edged lower on Friday in light U.S. holiday trading, as investors anticipated this weekend’s key OPEC+ meeting, where a potential increase in crude production for August is expected. Brent crude settled down 50 cents, or 0.7%, at $68.30 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped 0.75% to $66.50. The session saw limited activity due to the U.S. Independence Day holiday, with investors largely in a holding pattern ahead of Saturday’s OPEC+ gathering, which was moved forward from Sunday. Despite the dip, both benchmarks ended the week higher,…

Galaxy Z Fold 7, Flip 7 and possible Ultra model expected Samsung has officially set its next Galaxy Unpacked event for July 9 at 10AM ET, marking the company’s third major launch of the year. Following the Galaxy S25 series in January and the virtual unveiling of the Galaxy S25 Edge, this mid-year presentation is expected to spotlight foldables, wearables and artificial intelligence integrations. All signs point to the unveiling of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7, continuing the annual refresh of Samsung’s flagship foldable lineup. Recent leaks hint at larger displays (up to 6.5 inches cover…

Campaign sparks fierce debate over game preservation and dev freedom The digital games industry is witnessing a growing ideological feud between two influential voices: Ross Scott, creator of the Stop Killing Games (SKG) campaign, and Thor, the outspoken developer behind Pirate Software. What started as a unified call for consumer protection has now evolved into a full-blown debate about digital ownership, game preservation, and developer autonomy. Ross Scott’s crusade to save vanishing games Launched by YouTuber Ross Scott in response to Ubisoft’s 2023 takedown of The Crew, the SKG campaign argues that consumers are being sold games with hidden expiration…

Cupertino explores third-party AI after delays in internal Siri revamp Apple is reportedly exploring the use of artificial intelligence models from OpenAI or Anthropic to power a future version of Siri, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. The company is said to be in early-stage talks with both firms about using their large language models (LLMs) as a foundation for Siri’s next-generation capabilities. Shares of Apple rose 2% on Monday following the report. Discussions have involved training third-party LLMs that could run on Apple’s cloud infrastructure for testing, although no final decision has been made. Apple, OpenAI, and Anthropic…

Mark Zuckerberg reveals new AI unit, recruits top talent from rivals Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Monday the creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL), a new unit aimed at consolidating the company’s AI efforts and accelerating development of cutting-edge foundation models. The move puts Meta in direct competition with AI leaders like OpenAI and Google as the global race toward superintelligence intensifies. The new division will be led by Alexandr Wang, former CEO of Scale AI, who now serves as Meta’s Chief AI Officer, and Nat Friedman, ex-CEO of GitHub and co-founder of an influential AI investment firm. Both leaders…

Full-year deficit narrows to 0.6% of GDP amid strong services India recorded a current account surplus of $13.5 billion in the January-March 2025 quarter, equivalent to 1.3% of GDP, the Reserve Bank of India reported. This marks a significant improvement from the $4.6 billion surplus (0.5% of GDP) in the same quarter of the previous year and a sharp reversal from the $11.3 billion deficit seen in Q3 FY2025. For the full fiscal year 2024-25, the current account deficit narrowed to $23.3 billion, or 0.6% of GDP, compared to $26 billion (0.7% of GDP) in FY2023-24. The decline was largely…

Consumer spending slowed more than expected, imports surged The U.S. economy contracted more sharply than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2025, as aggressive tariff policies and weak consumer spending weighed heavily on growth. According to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, gross domestic product (GDP) declined at a 0.5% annualized rate, revised from an earlier 0.2% drop. The downward revision was primarily due to a significant reduction in consumer spending estimates, now seen rising at just 0.5% instead of 1.2%. The decline marks the first contraction since early 2022 and follows 2.4% growth in the fourth quarter…

Adjusted data shows growth, but early buying and 2024 anomalies distort comparison U.S. new vehicle sales are expected to increase by 2.5% year-over-year in June to 1.25 million units on a selling day-adjusted basis, according to a joint report by J.D. Power and GlobalData released Wednesday. However, unadjusted figures show a 5.4% decline compared to 2024, revealing distortions driven by unique market forces and prior-year disruptions. Early buying and cyber incident skew data The sales landscape this year has been shaped in part by consumer fears over President Donald Trump’s tariff policy. Many buyers pulled forward their purchases to March…